based on the tasting tomorrow scenarios. toward a tasting tomorrow menu.

Suggestions for culinary prototyping

Bite-sized street-food. Ingredient-driven, hyper-seasonal, a blend between “high-brow” and “low-brow”. Imagine what a street “kaiseki” or barbecued “cuisine vegetal” would be like. The portions should be tiny, handheld for those on the move. Alternatively, a liquid dish can be slurped from a wooden bowl which guests carry with them at all times. Techniques can include both the traditional and innovative - anything goes, so long as it brings out the genuine deliciousness of the ingredients. Food is served either on communal platters, or in simple pots/bowls. If dishes are packaged, the packaging should be either compostable or reusable.

Tastes

• fresh, savoury, fruity, juicy, seasonal, surprising (e.g. flavour pairing), can be extravagant but without complexity

Textures

• moist, 'melt in the mouth', crispy, bubbly

Colours

• colourful, intense, radiant, glazed

Temperature

• warm, body temperature, room temperature, chilled accents

Ingredients

• seasonal (daily changes), vegetables, fruits, grains, honey, sustainable proteins, (flat) wholemeal bread/crackers/crisps, mustard and other cruciferous vegetables, citrus fruits, slightly fermented drinks (kombucha, elderflower, young wine…), colourful dips…

Serving & presentation

• hand held, sharing plates, (olive) wood bowls and boards, rough ceramics

Possible dishes to prototype

• Barbecued (wild) green asparagus kebabs in soy-lemon marinade
• Strawberry, Maltese honey, basil and parmesan on oat pizzette
• Some pastizzi alternative?
• Fresh sourdough or flat bread with dips:
  • Beetroot and hazelnut butter
  • Carrot and rosemary puree with lemon zest
  • Spinach mash with black tea and yuzu
• Elderflower champagne
• Popping sugar glazed with dark chocolate, chilli and olive oil

Suggestions for culinary prototyping

Foods and drinks designed for a ritual - Wake for the Rain. Symbolic presentation of small dishes and drinks, possibly including a ritualised consumption process. Simplicity of dishes can be complemented by complexity of ways to eat/drink them. Concentrated, dehydrated or freeze-dried products. Saliva producing dishes, thirst quenching juices. Raw food or cooked sous vide to preserve moisture. Mezcal as the religious drink.

Tastes

• subtle, bitter, citric, limpid, uncomplicated, dry, concentrated

Colours

• translucent, (pale) green, white, red accents

Textures

• contrast between liquid and moist vs dry and dehydrated, misty, ethereal

Temperature

• cold, chilled, room temperature

Ingredients

• aloe, agave, nopal cactus, olives, lime, pomegranate, goat-dairy (milk, yoghurt, cheese, meat), herbal distillates, essential oils, crystalised herbs, amaranth, freeze-dried green vegetables, cucumber, coconut water, mezcal, rhubarb, witlof (Belgian endives); NOTE: ingredients can be salty, but no salt should be added to them

Serving & presentation

• measuring cups, metal, stone, tamarix africana (malt. bruka), spray bottles, clear, etched or milky glass.

Possible dishes to prototype

• Mezcal with lime and pomegranate seeds
• Aloe vera coconut water shots
• Lime-infused nopal chips in dehydrated olive crust
• Sage hydrolate with grapefruit juice
• Amaranth cracker with goat yoghurt tzatziki
• Freeze-dried broccoli chips

Suggestions for culinary prototyping

“Contribution soups”, porridges or other gooey and 'unrecognisable' semi-liquids. They can either be intensely flavoured themselves or taste rather bland and be served with multiple side-dishes (pickles, chutneys, sauces, dried fish/meat) to add flavour. They can be eaten on their own or with rough, heavy breads and crackers.

Tastes

• Dry, smoky, salty, umami, fishy, pungent, fermented (funky), complex and intense

Colours

• Rust, dust, browns and olive-green, mold

Textures

• Gooey, crunchy, rough, rustic

Temperature

• Hot, warm

Ingredients

• Smoked/dried meat, fish and vegetables, insects, katsuboshi, seaweed, sea vegetables (samphire, purslane…), wild asparagus, wild herbs, wild fruit and veg, dates, coffee, 'exotic' spices, (natto) miso, tofu, harissa, funazushi, pickled fish and vegetables, fish sauce, sourdough bread, rye, rice

Serving & presentation

• Car/ship parts (hubcaps, mirrors, lights…), discarded plastic, rough clay, steel, cardboard

Possible dishes to prototype

• Heart porridge (rye porridge with cured, smoked beef heart (aka. “Heart of unknown provenance”), served with garum)
• Pirate mapo (tofu mash with harissa and dried apricots)
• Fish-slime congee (rice porridge with dried fish (paste), natto miso and dulse flakes)
• Crackers - Rye sourdough, mixed seeds

Suggestions for culinary prototyping

Food as medicine, medicine as food. Superfoods. Data-driven diets.

Tastes:

• Clean, green, simple, vegetal, bland, unspiced, savoury, one dimensional, bright, neutral, metallic, square, round, slightly sweet

Colours

• Leafy green, white, brown, grey, blood-red, blue.

Textures

• Smooth, blended, encapsulated, slippery, viscous.

Temperature

• Cold.

Ingredients

• Matcha, green tea, spirulina, multigrain crackers, wheatgrass, avocado, berries, mackrel, snail eggs, microgreens, nori snacks, quail eggs. (special or scarce ingredients: red wine, chocolate, marmite)

Serving & presentation

• Clinical, generic white crockery, square but rounded, without too many sharp edges; stainless steel cutlery, crystal water bottles (with charcoal filters), medical grade plastics and glass, barcodes; clean, tidy, no connection and no enjoyment;

Possible dishes to prototype

• Water tasting
• Snails in the garden (microgreens with faux snail eggs on a chia seed crisp)
• Clandestine elixir (marmite soup with spirulina, seeds and grains in pill cups)
• Nori chips with green tea quail eggs
• Raw super-juice (tasteless water + spirulina served with an extensive printed list of nutritional info)
• Supergreen capsules
• Matcha soy latte
• Choco-shots (broad spectrum antidepressant and coconut 'botox')
• Red wine gummy bears / jelly babies (reservatol)